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Acts 15:31 — Word Study

Depth

N1904ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

BSAHaving read [it]anaginōskō [having read it thoroughly, after reading] nowde they rejoicedchairō [felt happy and glad, were very happy] atepi theho [the letter's, this] encouragement.paraklēsis [consolation, comfort, exhortation]

Word
Listen & take awayActs 15
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 31 is in this chapter.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (paraklēsis) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Acts 15:31quick helps
In a sentenceThe people rejoiced when they read the letter's encouraging message.
Who is speakingThe narrative describes the response of the people after reading the letter.
Where we areThis verse is part of a larger account detailing the early church's response to a letter.
The hard wordπαρακλήσει
Take awayThe letter brought joy and comfort to the community.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectἀναγινώσκω verbἀναγινώσκω The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

Bars are logarithmic — , the commonest word in the Greek New Testament, stands 19,867 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.

Deep Study — Acts 15:31

Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.

Context — The Response to the Lettergenerated

30So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter.
31When the people read it, they rejoiced at its encouraging message.
32Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.
33After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers in peace to return to those who had sent them.

Acts 15:31 describes the reaction of the people after they read a letter sent from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. This letter addressed important matters concerning the early church, particularly regarding the inclusion of Gentiles. The people's joy reflects their acceptance of the message and its implications for their faith community, as they found comfort and encouragement in its contents.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Acts 15:1–10Then some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
2Acts 16:5So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
3Galatians 2:4–5This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.
4Galatians 5:1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
5Philippians 3:3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 5 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word παρακλήσει, paraklēsisgenerated

The noun παράκλησις is derived from the verb παρακαλέω, which means to call alongside or to comfort. It encompasses meanings such as encouragement, consolation, and exhortation.

In this context, it signifies the uplifting message contained in the letter that brought joy to the readers. The grammatical form indicates that it is a singular feminine noun in the dative case, which is used here to express the reason for their rejoicing.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse in the Berean Standard Bible states, 'When the people read it, they rejoiced at its encouraging message.' This is consistent with the KJV and ASV, which also emphasize the joy derived from the letter's consolation.

However, the BBE translates it as 'they were glad of its comfort', highlighting a slightly different nuance of the same Greek word.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb of the verse is ἐχάρησαν, they rejoiced, which governs the entire sentence. It is preceded by a participial phrase ἀναγνόντες, having read, that describes the action leading to their rejoicing.

The structure consists of a main clause followed by a prepositional phrase at its encouraging message, indicating the source of their joy.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The Greek word ἀναγινώσκω appears in the Septuagint, where it translates the Hebrew word קָרָא (H7121), meaning to read or call out. This connection emphasizes the act of reading as a means of understanding and acknowledging important messages.

Similarly, παράκλησις corresponds to the Hebrew word נחם (H5162), which conveys the idea of comfort and consolation, reinforcing the significance of the encouraging message in the context of the early church.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Acts 15:31 tells us that when the people read the letter, they were filled with joy because of its encouraging message. This letter was meant to provide guidance and reassurance to the early church, and its contents brought happiness to those who received it.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What was the letter about?

The letter addressed important issues regarding the inclusion of Gentiles in the faith and provided guidance on how to live in accordance with the teachings of Jesus.

Why did the people rejoice?

The people rejoiced because the letter contained an encouraging message that affirmed their faith and provided comfort in their spiritual journey.

What does 'encouragement' mean in this context?

In this context, 'encouragement' refers to the comfort and support provided by the letter, which uplifted the spirits of the readers.

How does this verse connect to the broader themes in Acts?

This verse reflects the unity and joy of the early church as they navigated challenges and embraced the message of hope and inclusion brought by the apostles.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. How can I find encouragement in messages I read from Scripture?
  2. What are some ways I can share uplifting messages with others in my community?
  3. In what situations have I experienced joy from reading God's Word?
  4. How can I support others who are seeking comfort and encouragement in their faith?

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Acts 15:31 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Which when they had read,.... That is, when the brethren of the church at Antioch had read the letter delivered to them; for not Paul and Barnabas, or Judas and Silas, who were sent with it, read it,

Read John Gill on Acts 15 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation , [ tee (G3588) parakleesei (G3874)].

Read Robert Jamieson on Acts 15 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

It could not but much rejoice the Gentile believers, that they were exempted from circumcision, and the ceremonial law. And it gladdened the believing Jews also, that the controversy was determined, and concord established amongst them. But much more might they all rejoice to understand the grace of the gospel; and that we are not justified by the deeds of the law, but by faith in Christ, . Consolation; this word also signifies exhortation, and it was matter of joy to be put upon such excellent duties as our most holy religion recommends, and to be deterred from such erroneous evils as it forbids. All that God requires of us being only to eschew evil, and do good, ,17 .

Read Matthew Poole on Acts 15 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

31 Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. Ver. 31. They rejoiced for the consolation] How should we rejoice in Christ our Saviour, who bare our sins, &c., and freed us from the burden and brunt of both crime and curse!

Read John Trapp on Acts 15 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(31) They rejoiced for the consolation.—We ought not to forget that the letter was probably read out by one who was himself emphatically “the son of consolation” (Acts 4:36) in all the manifold aspects of that word, and who now proved himself worthy of the name.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Acts 15 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 31. They rejoiced for the consolation.] It was not a matter of small moment to have a question on which such stress was laid decided by an apostolic council, over which the Spirit of God presided.

Read AdamClarke on Acts 15 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

31. rejoiced for the consolation] Barnabas “the son of consolation” (Acts 4:36) was a fit member of such an embassy. The consolation would be felt both by Jews and Gentiles, by the former because they knew how much was to be asked of their Gentile fellow-worshippers, by the latter because they were declared free from the yoke of Jewish observances. The noun very often signifies exhortation, but that sense is neither so apt here, nor is it borne out by the character of the letter, which sets forth a ground of peace and comfort, but is not hortatory.

Read Cambridge on Acts 15 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They rejoiced for the consolation - They acquiesced in the decision of the apostles and elders, and rejoiced that they were not to be subjected to the burdensome rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion.

Read Albert Barnes on Acts 15 →

The verse in English, compared — 16 translations, and where they part company

Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

When the people read it, they rejoiced at its encouraging message.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

When they had read it, they rejoiced over the encouragement.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

When the people read it, they rejoiced at its encouraging message.

NETBNew English Translation2006

When they read it aloud, the people rejoiced at its encouragement.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And when they had read it, they reioyced for the consolation.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And having read it, they rejoiced at the consolation.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

and they having read, did rejoice for the consolation;

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

and having read [it] they rejoiced for the consolation;

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

When they had read it, they rejoiced because of the encouragement.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

After they had read it, the people were so happy for the encouraging message.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And after reading it, they were glad of its comfort.

Word by word, the decisions they made

ἀναγνόντεςanaginōskō Having read [it] G314 3 different renderings
readASV BSB DRA FBV GNV KJV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB
having readDBY LSV YLT
after readingBBE
ἐχάρησανchairō they rejoiced G5463 2 different renderings
they rejoicedASV BSB DBY DRA KJV LSV MSB NWB RVA ULB WEB
rejoiceYLT
παρακλήσει.paraklēsis encouragement. G3874 3 different renderings
consolationASV DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV NWB RVA YLT
encouragementNETB ULB WEB
comfortBBE

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the Nestle 1904 treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

clauseδὲnowclauseadverbialἀναγνόντεςHaving read [it]verbἐχάρησανthey rejoicedprepositional phrase · adverbialἐπὶatnoun phraseτῇtheπαρακλήσειencouragement

Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.


The earliest translations — Latin and Syriac

Every translation is an argument about meaning made by someone who had to commit to one. These two were made while the Greek was still a living language, and they are the oldest opinions we have about what this verse says.

Latin VulgateAD 382–405

Quam cum legissent, gavisi sunt super consolatione.

Jerome revised the Old Latin against the Greek from AD 382; the Latin west read this text for a thousand years.

Syriac Peshittaby AD 400

ܘܟܕ ܩܪܘ ܚܕܝܘ ܘܐܬܒܝܐܘ

The Bible of the Syriac-speaking church, in the language nearest to the Aramaic Jesus spoke.

Shown verse by verse rather than word by word: aligning a Greek word to its Latin or Syriac counterpart automatically would be guesswork, and a wrong alignment is worse than none.


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

Eight printed editions of the Greek New Testament, side by side. Where they agree the wording is settled; where a word is missing from an edition it is marked, so you can see the difference rather than take it on trust.

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

An independent critical text built from the oldest witnesses then known.

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

ἀναγνόντες δὲ ἐχάρησαν ἐπὶ τῇ παρακλήσει.

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

Every witness on this verse all agree
Critical editions
Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993SBL Greek New Testament2010Westcott–Hort1881Tregelles1857–1879Tyndale House Greek NT2017
Byzantine / Majority
Byzantine majority text2018
Received Text
Textus Receptus1550/1894

A witness that read differently would show its variant word here, marked.

Word by word, across the editions

Every edition agrees. All 8 printed editions — Nestle-Aland 28, Nestle-Aland 27, SBLGNT, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House 2017, Textus Receptus (KJV), Byzantine majority — carry every word of this verse, in the same order, with no difference that any translator would render differently.


The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with

This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Greek New Testament — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.

Acts 15:31ἀναγινώσκωHaving readHaving read [itἀναγινώσκωδέnownowδέχαίρωthey rejoicthey rejoicedχαίρωἐπίatatἐπίthetheπαράκλησιςencouragemeencouragement.παράκλησιςπαρακαλέωv. I summov. I summon, enπαρακαλέωἀνάPrep. and,Prep. and, apieἀνάνοέωv. I underv. I understandνοέωοὐδέποτεNeg.adv. nNeg.adv. neverοὐδέποτεἀγαλλιάωv. I exultv. I exult, am ἀγαλλιάωλίανAdv very, Adv very, very λίανκάθημαιv. I sit, v. I sit, am seκάθημαιθρόνοςn.m. a thrn.m. a throne, θρόνοςὑπέρPrep. in bPrep. in behalfὑπέρ
meets it a little oftener than chancemeets it far oftener than chancebuilt from the same roottwo words of the verse share ita word of this versea related word

Lexicons — every word in Acts 15:31

One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Greek lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.

Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. Imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, the full Liddell-Scott-Jones, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate LSJ, Robinson and Packard on the Greek, Webster and Cawdrey on the English the translators were using. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.

Having read [it] now they rejoiced at the encouragement.
ἀναγνόντεςanaginōskō Having read [it] G314 Verb · second aorist · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
32× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Acts than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To read means to know or understand written words, as in Matthew and Acts where it talks about reading scriptures.
Amplified meaning
having read it thoroughly, after reading
Tyndale gloss
to read
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀναγινώσκω (i.e., anaginosko) means to read, derived from roots meaning 'to know again.' It encompasses reading written characters and recognizing or acknowledging information. In the New Testament, it appears in several contexts, including Matthew 24:15 and Acts 15:31. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀνα-γινώσκω

(Attic ἀναγιγν-),

[in LXX chiefly for קרא;]

to know certainly, know again, recognize.

Of written characters, to read: Mt 24:15, Mk 13:14, Ac 15:31 23:34, Eph 3:4; c. acc rei, Mt 22:31, Mk 12:10 Lk 6:3, Jo 19:20, Ac 8:30, 32, II Co 1:13, Re 1:3; c. acc pers., Ἠσαίαν τ. προφήτην,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἀνα-γινώσκω ; [impf. ἀνεγίνωσκεν Acts viii. 28]; 2 aor. ἀνέγνων, [inf. ἀναγνῶναι Lk. iv. 16], ptep. ἀναγνούς ; Pass., [pres. ἀναγινώσκομαι); 1 aor. ἀνεγνώσθην ; in prof. auth. 1. to distinguish between, to recognize, to know accurately, to acknowledge; hence 2. to read, (in this signif. [“ first in Pind. O. 10 (11). 1”] fr. [Arstph.,] Thue. down): ri, Mt. xxii. 31; Mk. xii. 10; Lk. vi. 3; Jn. xix. 20; Acts viii. 30,32; 2 Co.i.13; [Gal. iv. 21 Lchm. mrg.]; Rev.i.3; ν. 4 Rec.; twa, one’s book, Acts viii. 28, 30; ἐν with dat. of the book, Mt. xii. 5; xxi.42; Mk. xii. 26; with ellipsis of ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, Lk. x. 26; foll. by ὅτι [objective], Mt. xix.4; [foll. by ὅτι recitative, Mt. xxi. 16]; τί ἐποίησε, Mt. xii. 3; Mk. ii. 25. The obj. not mentioned, but to be understood from what precedes : Mt. xxiv. 15; Mk. xiii. 14; Acts xv. 31; xxiii. 34; Eph. iii. 4; pass. 2 Co. iii. 2. to read to others…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἀναγινώσκω. For this word = ‘‘read aloud,” as generally in classical Greek, cf. P Grenf I. 3715 (late ii/B.c.) ἐπιλέγματος ἀναγνωσθέντος, of the reading aloud ofa petition, and P Goodsp Cairo 2g iii) (¢, A.D. 150) ἧς ἀναγνωσθείσης, of a will. So P Oxy I. 598 (A.D. 292) ἐπίσταλμα ἐν ἡμῖν ἀνεγνώσ[θη], “at a meeting of our body a despatch was read,” and J/ichel 699° (end of iii/B.c.) τό τε ψήφισμα ἀνέγνωσαν. The word is used absolutely in P Amh II. 64? (A.D. 107) ἀναγνωσθέντος, ‘a report was read.’’ On the other hand it must mean simply ‘‘read” in P Eleph 9% (B.C. 222) ὡς ἂν οὖν ἀναγνῶις [τὴ]ν ἐπιστολήν, and similarly 24. 13°, also BGU IV. 1079°* (a private letter —i/a.D.) λοιπὸν οὖν ἔλαβον παρὰ τοί(ῦ) ApaBos τὴν ἐπιστολὴν καὶ ἀνέγνων καὶ ἐλυπήθην, and P Fay 20° (iii/iv A.D.) where it refers to copies of an edict set up in public places σύνοπτα τοῖς ἀναγιγνώσκουσιν, ‘in full view of those…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀναγινώσκω (anaginōskō) — to read.

Included with: ἀναγιγνώσκω,

later ἀναγῑνώσκω:

I. Epic dialect only in aorist 2 ἀνέγνων,

I.1. know well, know certainly, οὐ γάρ πώ τις ἑὸν γόνον αὐτὸς ἀνέγνω[Refs 8th c.BC+]

I.1. b perceive, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]

I.2. know again, recognize, [Refs 8th c.BC+], acknowledge, own, ἀναγνῶναι τοὺς συγγενέας[Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist passive once in [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. after [Refs 8th c.BC+], future ἀναγνώσομαι uncertain in [Refs]: aorist 2 ἀνέγνων, Cretan dialect 3rd.pers.plural subjunctive -γνῶντι[Refs]perfect ἀνέγνωκα:—passive, future -γνωσθήσομαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]: aorist ἀνεγνώσθην[Refs 5th c.BC+]: perfect ἀνέγνωσμαι[Refs 5th c.BC+]:—of written characters, know them again, and so, read, first in [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀναγνώσεται (i.e. ὁ γραμματεύς) [Refs 5th…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀναγινώσκω

anaginosko

from 303 and 1097; to know again, i.e. (by extension) to read:--read.

see GREEK for 303

see GREEK for 1097

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀναγινώσκω

v.

I read

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀναγινώσκω anaginōskō 32x

to gather exact knowledge of, recognize, discern; especially, to read

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AAP-NPM — Verb · second aorist · active · participle · nominative · plural · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AAP-NPM Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: Active Mood: Participle Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
15%reading
reading15% · 5×you have read12% · 4×being read9% · 3×read9% · 3×have you read9% · 3×you did read9% · 3×he was reading6% · 2×having read6% · 2×other renderings24% · 8×

33 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 15 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb91%adverbial9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 32 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
οὐNeg
αὐτόςDisjλέγωI say, speak
οὐδέποτεNeg
ναίDisjἸησοῦςJesusαὐτός
Article the
ἅγιοςset apart, holy,δεῖit is necessary,μακάριοςhappy, blessed
ὅς
γινώσκωI come to know, γραφήa writing, passaDisj
οὗτος
γραφήa writing, passaοὐδέNeg
ἀναγινώσκωHaving read [it]32×
what comes after →
Article the
εἶπονI say, speakἸουδαῖοςJewishπροφήτηςa prophet, poet
ἐν
Article the
νοέωI understand, consid
τότεthenArticle the
τίςIrg
ποιέωI do, make
ὅτιthat, since, because
Article theἐκ

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceἀναγινώσκω · 32× in the New Testament
Acts Matthew Mark 2 Corinthians Colossians Luke 1 Thessalonians Ephesians John Revelation
Across the New Testament10 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 24 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Preliminary Studies 20c. AD 40

ἀνάγκη γὰρ τὸν ἐγχορεύοντα ταῖς ἐγκυκλίοις θεωρίαις καὶ πολυμαθείας ἑταῖρον ὄντα τῷ γεώδει καὶ Αἰγυπτίῳ προσκεκληρῶσθαι σώματι, χρῄζοντα καὶ ὀφθαλμῶν, ὡς ἰδεῖν καὶ ἀναγνῶναι, καὶ ὤτων, ὡς προσσχεῖν τε καὶ ἀκοῦσαι, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων αἰσθήσεων, ὡς ἕκαστον…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 7.137c. AD 75–95

δεξάμενος δὲ Ἰώαβος τὰ γράμματα καὶ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως προαίρεσιν ἀναγνούς, καθʼ ὃν ᾔδει τόπον τοὺς πολεμίους χαλεποὺς αὐτῷ γενομένους, κατὰ τοῦτον ἔστησε τὸν Οὐρίαν δοὺς αὐτῷ τινας τῶν ἀρίστων τῆς στρατιᾶς·

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 30.1c. AD 96

Αγίου οὖν μερὶς ὑπάρχοντες ποιήσωμεν τὰ τοῦ ἁγιασμοῦ πάντα, φεύγοντες καταλαλιάς, μιαράς τε καὶ ἀνάγνους συμπλοκάς, μέθας τε καὶ νεωτερισμοὺς καὶ βδελυκτὰς ἐπιθυμίας, μυσερὰν μοιχείαν, βδελυκτὴν ὑπερηφανίαν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 3rd c. BC 5th c. AD
P.Lond. 6 1912 VoAlexandriaAD 41

ἠδυνήθη διὰ τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῆς, ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην ἐκθεῖναι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἵνα κατʼ ἄνδρα ἕκαστον ἀναγινώσκοντες αὐτὴν τήν τε μεγαλειότητα τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν Καίσαρος θαυμάσητε καὶ τῇ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν

P.Mert. 3 117ArsinoitesAD 140

πεπιστευκὼς ἐβουλόμην … α … παρε … … … εἰς ἀναγκαιότερα μεταπεριεσπώμην. ὁ κριτής· ἀναγινώσκετε ἃς λέγει ἔχειν κρίσεις. καὶ ἀναγνόντων αἰλίου Νουμισιανοῦ στρατηγοῦ ὑπομνηματισμοὺς ἕνα μὲν κεχρονισμένον ἐπὶ

P.Oxy. 51 3614OxyrhynchosAD 200

ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ. μετʼ ἄλλα. Καῖσαρ σκεψάμενος μετὰ τῶν φίλων τῇ πατρίῳ φωνῇ ἀπεφήνατο, ἀναγνοὺς ἐκ βιβλίου, οἱ μὲν ἐπίτροποι ἡμῶν ἕξουσιν διὰ φροντίδος μισθοῦν τὰ τέλη μετὰ πίστεως

Having read [it] now they rejoiced at the encouragement.
δὲde now G1161 Conjunction
2,787× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This is a conjunction that means and, but, or then, used to connect ideas like in Matthew 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 6:15.
Tyndale gloss
then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

δέ (de) is a post-positive particle in Greek, primarily used as a conjunction to connect clauses. It can express contrast (but, on the other hand) or continuation (and, also), and is often used to transition between ideas or to add emphasis. In the New Testament, it appears frequently in various contexts, such as contrasting statements or resuming interrupted discourse, with notable examples in Matthew and 2 Corinthians.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

δέ (before vowels δ’; on the general neglect of the elision in NT, v. WH, App., 146; Tdf., Pr., 96),

post-positive conjunctive particle;

copulative, but, in the next place, and, now (Abbott, JG, 104): Mt 1:2ff., II Co 6:15, 16, II Pe 1:5-7; in repetition for emphasis, Ro 3:21, 22, 9:30, I Co 2:6, Ga 2:2, Phl 2:8; in transition to something new, Mt 1:18 2:19, Lk 13:1, Jo 7:14, Ac 6:1, Read the full entry →

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

δέ (related to δή, as μέν to μήν, ef. Klotz ad Devar. ii. 2 p. 355), a particle adversative, distinctive, disjunctive, but, moreover, (W.§ 53, 7 and 10, 2); it is much more freq. in the historical parts of the N. T. than in the other books, very rare in the Epp. of John and the Apocalypse. {On its general neglect of elision (when the next word begins with a vowel) cf. Tdf. Proleg. p. 96; WH. App. Ῥ 146; W.§5,1a.; B. p.10sq.] It is used ἘΠ ΟἹ δὲ univ. by way of opposition and distinction; it is added to statements opp. to a preceding statement: ἐὰν yap ἀφῆτε... ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ἀφῆτε, Mt. vi. 14 sq.; ἐὰν de ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς κτλ. Mt. vi. 23; ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι, Mk. ii. 20; it opposes persons to persons or things previously mentioned or thought of, —either with strong emphasis: ἐγὼ δέ, Mt. v. 22, 28, 32, 34, 39,44; ἡμεῖς de, 1 Co. i. 23; 2 Co. x. 13; σὺ δέ, Mt. vi. 6; ὑμεῖς δέ, Mk. viii. 29; of δὲ…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

δεῖ. For the conjunctive, as in Mt 26%, cf. P Fay 109° (early i/A.D.) ἐάν σε δῇ (for δέῃ) τὸ εἱμάτιόν σου θεῖναι ἐνέχυρον. “even if you have to pawn your cloak” (Edd.). In P Tebt I. 585° (B.c. 111) we have ἐάν followed by the indicative— ἐὰν δεῖ σε συνπεσεῖν τῶι ᾿Ανικήτωι, σύνπεσαι, ‘if you must meet Anicetus, meet him” (Edd.): cf. Mayser G7. p. 325. Other examples of the verb are l’ Par 461® (B.C. 153) διὸ Kal ἡγούμενος δεῖν ἐπ᾿ ἄλλου μὲν μηθενὸς αὐτῶι διακριθῆναι» P Lille I. 267 (iii.B.c.) περὶ (corr. from πεερὶ) δὲ τούτου τοῦ μέρους δεήσει ἐπισχεῖν, P Tebt 11. 3414 (A.p. 140-1) δεήσι ἐπισταλῆναι εἰς δάνε[ι]α σπέρματα κατασπίο]ρᾶς KTA., “ΕἼ will be necessary to send on account of loans of seedcorn for the sowing,” etc., AécheZ 1001" © (Theran Doric —c. B.C. 200) no one may bring forward a proposal ὡς δεείσῃ διαλῦσαι τὸ κοινὸν εἰ τὰς θυσίας, P Flor II. 133" (A.D. 257) ἔδι μὲν ὑμᾶς μηδὲ…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

δέ (de) — then.

δέ,

but: adversative and copulative Particle,

I. answering to μέν (which see), τὴν νῦν μὲν Βοιωτίαν, πρότερον δὲ Καδμηίδα γῆν καλουμένην [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II. without preceding μέν,

II.1. adversative, expressing distinct opposition, αἰεί τοι τὰ κάκ᾽ ἐστὶ φίλα.. μαντεύεσθαι, ἐσθλὸν δ᾽ οὔτε τί πω εἶπας[Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in Prose, οὐκ ἐπὶ κακῷ, ἐλευθερώσει δέ.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. copulative,

II.2. a in explanatory clauses, ξυνέβησαν.. τὰ μακρὰ τείχη ἑλεῖν (ἦν δὲ σταδίων μάλιστα ὀκτώ) [Refs 8th c.BC+]: when a substantive is followed by words in apposition, Ἀρισταγόρῃ τῷ Μιλησίῳ, δούλῳ δὲ ἡμετέρῳ [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so in answers, διπλᾶ λέγειν. —Answ. διπλᾶδ᾽ ὁρᾶν…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

δέ

de

a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and,

etc.:--also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

δέ

Cj.

but, on the other hand, and

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

δέ de 2x

a conjunctive particle, marking the superaddition of a clause, whether in opposition or in continuation, to what has preceded, and it may be variously rendered but, on the other hand, and, also, now, etc.; καὶ δέ, when there is a special superaddition in continuation, too, yea, etc. It sometimes is found at the commencement of the apodosis of a sentence, Acts 11:17. It serves also to mark the resumption of an interrupted discourse, 2 Cor. 2:10; Gal. 2:6

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

δέ but: conjunctive Particle, with adversative force: it commonly answers to μέν, and may often be rendered by while, whereas, on the other hand, v. μέν:— but μέν is often omitted, δέ being used merely to pass on from one thing to another; ὣς Ἀχιλεὺς θάμβησεν, θάμβησαν δὲ καὶ ἄλλοι Il.; etc.; κινεῖ κραδίην κινεῖ δὲ χόλον Eur.

δέ is often redundant,

to introduce the apodosis, where it may be rendered by then, yet, εἰ δέ κε μὴ δώωσιν, ἐγὼ δέ κεν αὐτὸς ἕλωμαι if they will not give it, then I will take it, Il.; so at in Lat., si tu oblitus es, at Dii meminerint Catull.

to resume after interruption caused by a parenthesis, where it may be rendered by I say, now, so then, Hdt.

POSITION of δέ: properly second, being often put between the Art. and Subst., the prep. and case.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Conj — Conjunction
conjunction — it joins clauses, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
33%now
now33% · 974×however27% · 780×then21% · 620×and12% · 360×but5% · 154×other renderings2% · 49×

2,937 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 15 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 2,787 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςκύριοςlord, Lord, mastπεντακισχίλιοιfive thousand
εἰCond
παλαιόςold, ancient, woσύεἰμίI am, exist
εἰμίI am, exist
περιπατέωI walk, conduct ἀναπίπτωI lie down, reclμνημεῖονa tomb, sepulche
οὗτος
δίδωμιI offer, giveθεόςGod, a godπίστιςfaith, belief, t
δέnow2787×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusθεόςGod, a godκύριοςlord, Lord, mast
αὐτός
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐπί
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςArticle theσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὗτοςἸωάννηςJohn
τὶς
Article theαὐτόςὄνομαname, character,

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceδέ · 2,787× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians John Mark Romans 2 Corinthians Hebrews Galatians James 1 Timothy

2 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Having read [it] now they rejoiced at the encouragement.
ἐχάρησανchairō they rejoiced G5463 Verb · second aorist · passive deponent · indicative · third person · plural
74× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
To rejoice means to feel happy and glad, like the disciples in Mark 14:11. It can also be used as a greeting, wishing someone well and farewell.
Amplified meaning
felt happy and glad, were very happy
Tyndale gloss
to rejoice
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

χαίρω is a Greek verb meaning to rejoice or be glad. It is used in various contexts, including greetings and farewells, as well as expressing joy in response to good news. The New Testament features it in verses like Matthew 2:10 and Philippians 4:10. It can also appear in forms of salutation, such as χαῖρε (hail) and χαίρετε (greetings).

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

χαίρω

[in LXX for שָׂמַח (Ge 45:16, al.), גִּיל (Pr 2:14, al.), etc.; inf., as greeting (v. infr.), Is 48:22 57:21 שָׁלוֹם), I Mac 10:18, II Mac 1:1 and freq. in these books ;]

to rejoice, be glad: Mk 14:11, Lk 15:5, 32 19:6, 37 22:5 23:8, Jo 4:36 8:56 20:20, Ac 5:41 8:39 11:23 13:48, II Co 6:10 7:7 13:9, Phl 2:17, 28, Col 2:5, I Th 5:16, Read the full entry →

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

χαίρω; impf. ἔχαιρον; fut. χαρήσομαι (Lk. i. 14; In. xvi. 20, 22; Phil. i. 18, for the earlier form χαιρήσω, cf. [W. 90 (86); B. 68 (60)]; Bétm. Ausf. Spr. ii. 322 sq. ; Matthiae ὃ 255 s.v.; Kiihner $343 s.v.; Kriiger § 40 s.v.; [Veitchs. y.]), once χαρῶ (Rev. xi. 10 Rec., a form occurring nowhere else); 2 aor. [pass. as act.] ἐχάρην cf. συγχαίρω, init.]; fr. Hom. down; Sept. for nov, m1, wi; to rejoice, be glad; a. in the prop. and strict sense: [Mk. xiv. 11]; Lk. xv. δ, [32]; xix. 6, 37; viii. 89; xi. 235 xiii. 48; 2 Co. [vi. 10]; vii. 7; xiii. 9,11 ΘΒ refer this to b. in the sense of farewell]; Phil. ii. 17, 28; Col. ii. 5; 1 Th. v.16; 1 Pet. iv. 18; 5. Jn. 3; opp. to κλαίειν, Ro. xii. 153 1 Co. vii. 30; opp. to κλαίειν x. θρηνεῖν, In. xvi. 20; opp. to λύπην ἔχειν, ib. 22; joined with ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι, Mt. v. 12; Rey. xix. 7; with oxiprav, Lk. vi. 23 ; χαίρειν ἐν κυρίῳ (see ἐν, I. 6 Ὁ. Ὁ.…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

χαίρω, “rejoice”: P Eleph 133 (B.C. 223-222) ἐκομισάμην τὴν παρὰ σοῦ ἐπιστολήν, ἣν ἀναγνοὺς ἐχάρην (οί. Proleg. Ρ. 161) ἐπὶ τῶι με αἰσθέσθαι τὰ κατὰ σέ, P Berol 11662% (time of Claudius) (= Olsson, p. 190) πρὸ μὲν πάντων ἐχάρην μεγάλως λαβών σου [ἐἸπιστολήν, ὅτι ὑγειαίνεις, similarly P Giss I. 21% (time of Trajan), BGU II. 531}: 5 (ii/a.D.), and P Oxy I. 4117 (iii/iv a.D.) ἐπὶ τούτῳ σφόδρα χαίρω. It should be noted that in Phil 31, 44, RV marg. renders χαίρετε by ‘‘farewell.”’ Lightfoot (Comm. ad //.) combines the two meanings “‘ farewell” and “‘ rejoice,” but the latter is generally preferred by the commentators. The verb is very common in the opening address of letters, asin Ac 1578, 253. cf. Jas 17, e.g. ἘΣ Eleph 10” (B.c. 223— 222) Evdppovios Μίλωνι χαίρειν (for imper. inf. see Proleg. p- 179f.), P Oxy II. 2925 (c. A.D. 25) Θέων Τυράννωι τῶι τιμιωτάτωι πλεῖστα χαίρειν, P Ryl 11.…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

χαίρω (chairō) — to rejoice.

χαίρω,

[Refs 8th c.BC+]; 3rd.pers. plural imperative χαιρόντων [Refs 5th c.BC+]: imperfect, Epic dialect χαῖρον [Refs 8th c.BC+], Ionic dialect χαίρεσκον [Refs]: future χαιρήσω [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect reduplicate infinitive κεχᾰρησέμεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; later χᾰρῶ variant in [NT]: aorist ἐχαίρησα [Refs 1st c.AD+]: perfect κεχάρηκα [Refs 5th c.BC+], participle -ηκώς[Refs 8th c.BC+] —middle (in same sense), χαίρομαι, noted as a barbarism in [Refs 5th c.BC+]future χᾰρήσομαι Ps.-[Refs 2nd c.BC+]; Doric dialect χαρησοῦμαι [LXX+4th c.BC+]; Epic dialect κεχᾰρήσομαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]: aorist 1 participle χαιρησάμενος [Refs 2nd c.AD+]: Epic dialect aorist 1 χήρατο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; participle χηράμενος [Refs 1st c.AD+]: Epic dialect reduplicate aorist 2, 3rd.pers. plural κεχάροντο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; optative 3rd.pers. singular and plural κεχάροιτο…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

χαίρω

chairo

a primary verb; to be "cheer"ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off;

impersonally, especially as salutation (on meeting or parting), be

well:--farewell, be glad, God speed, greeting, hall, joy(- fully),

rejoice.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

χαίρω

v.

I rejoice, am glad

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

χαίρω chairō 74x

to rejoice, be glad, be joyful, be full of joy, Mt. 2:10; 5:12; 18:13; Mk. 14:11; Rom. 12:12; 2 Cor. 2:3; a term of salutation, Hail! Mt. 26:49; λέγω χαίρειν, to greet, 2 Jn. 10:11; an epistolary forth, Health! Acts 15:23

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

χαίρω Root ΧΑΡ to rejoice, be glad, be delighted Hom., etc.; χ. θυμῶι or ἐν θυμῶι, χ. φρεσὶν ἧισι id. Hom.:—c. dat. rei, to rejoice at, be delighted with, take delight in a thing, id. Hom., etc.; so, χαίρειν ἐπί τινι Soph., Xen.:— c. part., χαίρω τὸν μῦθον ἀκούσας I rejoice at having heard, Il.; χαίρεις ὁρῶν Eur.; χαίρω φειδόμενος Ar.;— with part. pres. χαίρω sometimes takes the sense of φιλέω, to be wont to do, χαίρουσι χρεώμενοι Hdt., etc.

with negat., οὐ χαιρήσεις thou wilt or shalt not rejoice, i. e. thou shalt not go unpunished, shalt repent it, Ar.; so in Hom., οὐδέ τιν᾽ οἴω Τρώων χαιρήσειν Il.; so with an interrog., σὺ χαιρήσειν νομίζεις; Plut.: v. inf. IV. 2

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-2AOI-3P — Verb · second aorist · passive deponent · indicative · third person · plural
second aorist passive deponent indicative — a completed action, viewed as a whole.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-2AOI-3P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: second Aorist Voice: passive depOnent Mood: Indicative Person: third Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
18%rejoicing
rejoicing18% · 13×do rejoice14% · 10×i rejoice9% · 7×rejoice7% · 5×they rejoiced5% · 4×greeting4% · 3×i rejoiced4% · 3×will rejoice4% · 3×other renderings35% · 26×

74 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 29 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb88%adverbial8%object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 74 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
ἀσπάζομαιI greet, salute,γένεσιςbirth, lineageὦμοςa shoulder
καίand, even, also, nam
δέbut, on the otheὁράωI see, look uponσύ
λέγωI say, speak
αὐτόςἸησοῦςJesusκαίand, even, also,
ἐγώ
ἀγαπάωI loveδεῖit is necessary,ἀδελφόςa brother
μήNeg
οὗτοςὡςas, like as, how
χαίρωthey rejoiced74×
what comes after →
καίand, even, also, nam
ἀγαλλιάωI exult, am fullArticle theσυγχαίρωI rejoice with
ἐπί
Article theαὐτόςπᾶςall, the whole,
ἐν
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastἐκεῖνοςArticle the
Article the
δέbut, on the otheβασιλεύςa king, ruler, eθλῖψιςpersecution, aff
δέbut, on the other ha
ὅτιthat, since, becἐπίἐν

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceχαίρω · 74× in the New Testament
Luke John Philippians 2 Corinthians Acts Matthew 1 Corinthians Romans 2 John 1 Peter 1 Thessalonians Colossians
Across the New Testament16 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 33 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 63c. AD 40

χαίρει γὰρ τὰ μέν τινα τεναγώδει καὶ οὐ πάνυ βαθείᾳ θαλάττῃ, τὰ δ’ ὑποδρόμοις καὶ λιμέσι μήτ’ ἐπὶ γῆν ἀνέρπειν μήτε πόρρω γῆς ἐπινήχεσθαι δυνάμενα, τὰ δὲ κατὰ μέσον καὶ βαθὺ πέλαγος διαιτώμενα τὰς προκεχυμένας ἄκρας ἢ νήσους ἢ πέτρας ἐκτρέπεται·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.8c. AD 75–95

ἦσαν δέ τινες, οἳ πόθῳ τῆς ἱστορίας ἐπʼ αὐτήν με προύτρεπον, καὶ μάλιστα δὴ πάντων Ἐπαφρόδιτος ἀνὴρ ἅπασαν μὲν ἰδέαν παιδείας ἠγαπηκώς, διαφερόντως δὲ χαίρων ἐμπειρίαις πραγμάτων, ἅτε δὴ μεγάλοις μὲν αὐτὸς ὁμιλήσας πράγμασι καὶ τύχαις πολυτρόποις,…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.1c. AD 100

Χαίρετε, υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες, ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς, ἐν εἰρήνῃ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. BC 4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD
P.Grenf. 1 32Pelusion103 BC

Ποήρει Νεχούτου καὶ … ως καὶ Πετααρσεμθεῖ … … … η Φατρήους καὶ … χαίρειν καὶ ἐρρωμένοις διευτυχεῖν. ἐρρώμεθα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμῶν τὴν ἀρίστην μνείαν ποιούμενοι παρὰ τοῖς

P.Bour. 10Pathyris89 BC

r Πλάτων Νεχθύρει χαίρειν. ἐξωρμήκαμεν ἐκ Λάτων πόλεως ἀντιληψόμενοι τῶν ἐνεστηκότων κατὰ τὸ συμφέρον τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ γεγραφότες

Chrest.Wilck. 12Pathyris89 BC

r Πλάτων τοῖς ἐν Παθύρει ἱερεῦσι καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς κατοικοῦσι χαίρειν. γέγραφεν ἡμῖν Φιλόξενος ὁ ἀδελφὸς διʼ ὧν κεκόμικεν ἡμῖν Ὄρσης γραμμάτων περὶ τοῦ τὸν

Having read [it] now they rejoiced at the encouragement.
ἐπὶepi at G1909 Preposition
886× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A preposition meaning upon, to, or against, often used to show location or direction, like in Matthew 6:10 where Jesus teaches us to pray for God's will to be done on earth. It can also indicate a sense of time or order.
Tyndale gloss
upon/to/against
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἐπί (epi) is a preposition that indicates a relationship of superposition, often translated as 'on,' 'upon,' or 'over.' It can govern the genitive, dative, or accusative cases, covering meanings related to place, time, authority, and various figurative uses. In the New Testament, it frequently appears with the accusative case, especially in contexts of motion or direction, such as in Matthew 14:28.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἐπί (before a smooth breathing ἐπ’, before a rough breathing ἐφ’),

prep. c. gen., dat., acc. (acc. most freq. in NT),

with primary sense of superposition, on, upon.

C. gen.,

of place, answering the question, where?

of the place on which, on, upon: ἐπὶ (τ.) γῆς, Mt 6:10, 19, al.; τ. κεφαλῆς, I Co 11:10; τ. νεφελῶν, Mt 24:30, al.; like ἐν, in constr. praegn. after verbs of motion: βάλλειν, Mk 4:26; σπείρειν, ib. 31; ἔρχεσθαι, He 6:7, al.; fig., ἐπ’ ἀληθείας (MM, s.v. ἀ.); of the subject of thought or speech, Ga 3:16; of power or authority, over, πάντων,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἐπί, [before a rough breathing ἐφ᾽ (occasionally in Mss. én’; see 6. g. Ps. exly. (exlvi.) 3), and also in some instances before a smooth breathing (as ἐφ᾽ ἐλπίδι, Acts ii. 26 L; Ro. viii. 20 (21) Tdf.); 566 ἀφεῖδον. It neglects elision before proper names beginning with a vowel (exe. Αἴγυπτον Acts vii. 10, 18) and (at least in Tdf.’s txt.) before some other words, see the Proleg. p. 94 sq.; cf. W. §5,1a.; B. p. 10], a preposition [fr. the Skr. local prefix dpi; Curtius $335], joined to the gen., the dat., and the ace. ; its primary signification is upon (Lat. super; [cf. W. 374 (350) note). A. with the Genitive [cf. W. § 47, g.; B. 336 (289)]; I. of Place; and 1. of the place on which; a. upon the surface of (Lat. in or super with the abl., Germ. auf with the dat.); after verbs of abiding, remaining, standing, going, coming, etc.; of doing anything: ἐπὶ κλίνης, Mt. ix. 2; Lk. xvii. 34…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἐπὶ ξένης εἶναι, and P Giss I. 2115 μένε ἐπὶ ἑαυτοῦ, “stay at home.” The sense of ‘‘near,’’ “‘in the vicinity of”’ appears in P Ryl II. 127° (A.D. 29) κοιμωμένον μον ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας: cf. Ac 5°% and see Jn 6᾽", 211 ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάσσης, where the rendering ‘“‘ near the sea,’ or, as we should say, “fon the shore,” is to be preferred (cf. Abbott /ok. Gr. p- 261). In P Lond 11688 (a.p. 18) (= III. p. 136) ἐν τοῖς ἀπὸ A(Bos μέρεσι ἐπὶ ταῖς οὔσαις γειτνίαις, ἐπί is almost = ἐν." The local force still underlies the meaning of such a phrase as ἐπ᾿ ἀληθείας (cf. Mk 1214) in the census paper P Oxy II. 255}5 (A.D. 48) (= Selections, p. 47), where it is stated that the return is ‘“‘sound”’ and rests “on a true basis "᾿-ἐ]ξ [ὑ]γιοῦς kal ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας. Cf. also P Lille I. 264 (iii/B.c.) τὴν δὲ λοιπὴν γ[ῆν ἑτο]ιμάζω, εἰ μὴ ἀκολουθεῖς ἅπαντα καθὼς ἐπὶ τῆς διαγραφῆς τ[ο]ῦ [εἰς τὸ] τε ἔτος σπόρου μεμισθῶσϑαι…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἐπί (epi) — upon/to/against.

ἐπί,

Thess. (before τ) [Refs 3rd c.BC+], to denote the being upon or supported upon a surface or point.

__A WITH GEN.:

__A.I of Place,

__A.I.1 with Verbs of Rest, upon, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: without a Verb expressed, ἔγχεα ὄρθ᾽ ἐ. σαυρωτῆρος (i.e. σταθέντα) [Refs]; ἔκλαγξαν ὀϊστοὶ ἐπ᾽ ὤμων the arrows on his shoulders, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: also with Verbs of Motion, where the subject rests upon something, as on a chariot, a horse, a ship, φεύγωμεν ἐφ᾽ ἵππων on our chariot, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τὴν κλεῖδα περιφέρειν ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ to carry the key about on his person, [Refs 5th c.BC+] walk on tiptoe, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of places, upon, if the place is an actual support, [Refs]; ἐ. τοῦ εὐωνύμον on the left, ἐ. τῶν πλευρῶν on the flanks, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; but most frequently, in, rarely in [Refs 8th c.BC+] in the country. [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐπ᾽ οἰκήματος κατίσαι…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἐπί

epi

a primary preposition; properly, meaning superimposition (of time,

place, order, etc.), as a relation of distribution (with the genitive

case), i.e. over, upon, etc.; of rest (with the dative case) at, on,

etc.; of direction (with the accusative case) towards, upon,

etc.:--about (the times), above, after, against, among, as long as

(touching), at, beside, X have charge of, (be-, (where-))fore, in (a

place, as much as, the time of, -to), (because) of, (up-)on (behalf

of), over, (by, for) the space of, through(-out), (un-)to(-ward),

with. In compounds it retains essentially the same import, at, upon,

etc. (literally or figuratively).

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἐπί

Prep.

on, to, against, on the basis of, at

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἐπί epi 890x

(1) with the gen., upon, on, Mt. 4:6; 9:2; 27:19; in, of locality, Mk. 8:4; near upon, by, at, Mt. 21:19; Jn. 21:1; upon, over, of authority, Mt. 2:22; Acts 8:27; in the presence of, especially in a judicial sense, 2 Cor. 7:14; Acts 25:9; in the case of, in respect of, Jn. 6:2; Gal. 3:16; in the time of, at the time of, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἐπί

on, upon with gen., dat., and acc.

prep. with gen., dat., and acc.: Radic. signf. upon.

WITH GEN.:

of Place,

with Verbs of Rest, upon or on, κεῖσθαι ἐπὶ χθονός Il.; ἐφ᾽ ἵππου on horse-back, etc.; ἐπὶ γῆς upon earth, Soph.; ἐπ᾽ ἀγροῦ in the country, Od.; also at or near, ἐπὶ Λήμνου off Lemnos, Hdt., etc.:—with Verbs of motion, the sense is pregnant, ἐπ᾽ ἠπείροιο ἔρυσσαν drew the ship upon the land and left it there, Il., etc.; ἀναβῆναι ἐπὶ τῶν πύργων Xen.

not strictly of Place, μένειν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς to remain in the command, id. Xen.; ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων engaged in business, Dem.: —of ships, ὁρμεῖν ἐπ᾽ ἀγκύρας to ride at (i. e. in dependence on an) anchor, Hdt.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Prep — Preposition
preposition — its sense depends on the case of the word it governs.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

PREP PREPosition

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
28%upon
upon28% · 258×on22% · 203×to8% · 77×in7% · 62×over7% · 59×at6% · 57×against4% · 38×for4% · 37×other renderings13% · 116×

907 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 46 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial91%predicate6%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 886 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
οὐρανόςthe sky, the heaαὐτόςλευκόςwhite, bright
αὐτός
δέbut, on the otheφιάληa shallow and flκεφαλήthe head
κάθημαιI sit, am seated
Article theκαίand, even, also,γυνήa woman, wife, m
πίπτωI fall, fall under
δέbut, on the otheκαίand, even, also,Article the
ἔρχομαιI come, go
ὁδόςa way, road, jouγάρforκαίand, even, also,
ἐπίat886×
what comes after →
Article the
γῆthe earth, soil,κεφαλήthe headθρόνοςa throne, seat
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,Article theὅτιthat, since, bec
πᾶςall, the whole, ever
Article theὅςκαίand, even, also,
σύ
καίand, even, also,Article theπᾶςall, the whole,
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theὅς

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceἐπί · 886× in the New Testament
Acts Luke Revelation Matthew Mark John Romans Hebrews 2 Corinthians 1 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Peter

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 29c. AD 40

εἶθ’ ὕδατος ἀσώματον οὐσίαν καὶ πνεύματος καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἑβδόμου φωτός, ὃ πάλιν ἀσώματον ἦν καὶ νοητὸν ἡλίου παράδειγμα καὶ πάντων ὅσα φωσφόρα ἄστρα κατὰ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔμελλε συνίστασθαι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

ὡς Ἅβραμος ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους ἐκστρατεύσας ἐνίκησε καὶ τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους τῶν Σοδομιτῶν ἔσωσε καὶ τὴν λείαν ἣν ἔλαβον ἀφείλετο.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.2c. AD 100

Μεγάλων μὲν ὄντων καὶ πλουσίων τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιωμάτων εἰς ὑμᾶς, ὑπέρ τι καὶ καθ̓ ὑπερβολὴν ὑπερευφραίνομαι ἐπὶ τοῖς μακαρίοις καὶ ἐνδόξοις ὑμῶν πνεύμασιν: οὕτως ἔμφυτον τῆς δωρεᾶς πνευματικῆς χάριν εἰλήφατε.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 2nd c. BC 1st c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

ἣν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐωνήσατο παρὰ Πανοβχούνιος τοῦ Τοτόηους ἐν τῷ ιε ἔτει Παῦνι γ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀρχείου, μιᾶς μὲν ἐν τῷ ἀπὸ λιβὸς πεδίωι, γείτονες· νότου γῆ Πατοῦτος τοῦ

P.Lond. 3 p. 18 no. 678Krokodilopolis (Pathyrites)100 BC–99 BC

καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ κανηφόρου τῶν ὄντων καὶ οὐσῶν μηνὸς Χοιὰκ … ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει ἐπὶ Πανίσκου ἀγορανόμου τῆς ἄνω τοπαρχίας τοῦ Παθυρίτου. ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Σχώτου ἱερεὺς Σούχου καὶ Ἀφροδίτης

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

ἐδέξατο Πακοῖβις ὁ πριάμενος. Ἑρμίας ὁ παρὰ Πανίσκου κεχρημάτικα. ἔτους ιϛ Τῦβι λ. τέτακται ἐπὶ τὴν ἐν Κροκοδίλων πόλει τράπεζαν ἐφʼ ἧς Παγκράτης δεκάτης ἐνκυκλίου διʼ Ἀπολλωνίου τελώνου Πακοῖβις

Having read [it] now they rejoiced at the encouragement.
τῇho the G3588 Article · dative · singular · feminine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Amplified meaning
the letter's, this
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The definite article — the commonest word in the Greek New Testament at 19,867 occurrences. Greek uses it more freely than English does and can drop it deliberately, so its presence and its absence both carry weight for a translator; but no single occurrence carries a message of its own. Here it simply gathers “the things” into one definite bundle.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

the prepositive article (ἄρθρον προτακτικόν), originally a demonstr. pron. (so usually in Hom.), in general corresponding to the Eng. definite article.

As demonstr. pron.

As freq. in Hom., absol., he (she, it), his (etc.): Ac 17:28 (quoted from the poet Aratus).

Distributive, ὁ μὲν . . . ὁ δέ, the one . . . the other: I Co 7:7, Ga 4:22; pl., Ac 14:4, 17:32, Phl 1:16, al.; οἱ μὲν . . . ἄλλοι δέ, Mt 16:14, Jo 7:12; οἱ μεν̀ . . . ὁ δέ, He 7:21, 23.

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὁ 435 ὁ tives of quantity, ὅλος, πᾶς, πολύς, see each in its own place. d. What has been said concerning adjectives holds true also of all other limitations added to substantives, as ἡ κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις, Ro. ix. 11; ἡ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, Ro. xi. 27; 6 λόγος 6 τοῦ σταυροῦ, 1 Co. i. 18; ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστις, Col. ii. 5; on the other hand, ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, 1 Th. i. 8; τῆς διακονίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους, 2 Co. viii. 4; see many other exx. of each usage in W. 131 (124) sqq.; [B. 91 (80) sqq.]. e. The noun has the article before it when a demonstrative pronoun (υὗτος, ἐκεῖνος) belonging to it either precedes or follows [W. § 18, 4; B. § 127, 29-31]; as, ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος, Jn. ix. 24 [οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρ. 1, Tr mrg. WH); Acts vi. 13; xxii. 26; ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, Mt. xv. 8; 6 vids σου οὗτος, Lk. xv. 30; plur. Lk. xxiv. 17, and numberless other exx.; οὗτος 6 ἄνθρωπος, Lk. xiv. 30; οὗτος ὁ…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ὃ, ἡ τό. (1) Apart from connexion with μέν or δέ (see below) the demonstrative use of the art. in the NT is confined to a poetical quotation Ac 1778, but it is not uncommon in the papyri, e.g. P Par 45® (B.C. 153) (= Witkowski®, p. 85) τὰ (for ἃ) πράσεις (Δ πράσσεις), P Oxy VIII. 1160! (iii/iv A.D.) Ta (for ἃ) σεσύλληχα (for συνείληχα) δὲ κέρμα {ταν τηρῶ αὐτὰ εἰς τὴν δίκην, “1 am keeping for the trial the money that I have collected” (Ed.). For the distributive Opéev.. - 6 8€, as in 1 Cor7’, cf. P Lond 535 (B.c. 161) (=I. p. 19, U.P.Z. i. p. 239) kal τὰ μὲν ἡμῶν ἐληφότων εἰς τὴν γινομένην ἡμῖν συντάξειν, τὰ δ᾽ ἔτι διὰ τὴν τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων {(.. ... > παρελκομένων. (2) The use of the art. as a relative, of which there is no trace in the NT, may again be illustrated by the following papyrus citations from ¢c. A.D. 346—P Lond 414® (= II. Ῥ. 292) γεινῴσκιν oe θέλω περὶ τοῦ βρεουίου…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

__C in Epic dialect, the so-called postpositive Article, = relative Pronoun, ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.—The nominative masculine and feminine singular and plural, ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ, have no accent in codices and most printed books, except when used as the relative; but ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ differ only in writing from ὃ, ἣ, οἳ, α; the nominative forms of the article are said by Hdn.Gr.1.474 to be oxytone, and by [Refs 2nd c.AD+] in Aeolic dialect accusative to [Refs 8th c.BC+] genitive and dative dual τοῖιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]— In Doric dialect and all other dialects except Attic dialect and Ionic dialect the feminine forms preserve the old ᾱ instead of changing it to η, hence Doric dialect etc. ἁ, τάν, τᾶ; the genitive plural τάων contracts in many dialects to τᾶ; the genitive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be

supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one,

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

the prepositive article, answering, to a considerable extent, to the English definite article; but, for the principle and facts of its usage, consult a grammar; ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ, the one ... the other, Phil. 1:16, 17; Heb. 7:5, 6, 20, 21, 23, 24; pl. some ... others, Mt. 13:23; 22:5, 6; ὁ δέ, but he, Mt. 4:4; 12:48; οἱ δέ, but others, Mt. 28:17; used, in a poetic quotation, for a personal pronoun, Acts 17:28

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

in epic, the relative Pronoun, when it is written with the accent ὅ, ἥ, τό ῀ ὅς, ἥ, ὅ. Besides the common forms, note epic gen. sg. τοῖο for τοῦ; pl. nom. τοί, ταί; gen. fem. τάων [α^], dat. τοῖσι, τῇς and τῇσι; dual gen, and dat. τοῖιν:— in Trag. we find τοὶ μέν . . , τοὶ δέ . . , for οἱ μέν . . , οἱ δέ . . ; dat. pl. also τοῖσι, ταῖσι: the dual has commonly but one gender, τώ for τά, τοῖν for ταῖν.

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

joined with a Subst., not as the Art., but like Lat. ille, ὁ Τυδείδης Tydeus's famous son, Il.; Νέστωρ ὁ γέρων Nestor— that aged man, id. Il.; τιμῆς τῆς Πριάμου for honour, namely that of Priam, id. Il.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-DSF — Article · dative · singular · feminine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-DSF Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

English usagewhat the translators’ English meant
Webster's Dictionary (1828), Webster's Unabridged (1913), Webster's Dictionary (1806)

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

1. This adjective is used as a definitive, that is, before nouns which are specific or understood; or it is used to limit their signification to a specific thing or things, or to describe them; as the laws of the twelve tables. the independent tribunals of justice in our country, are the security or private rights, and the best bulwark against arbitrary power. the sun is the source of light and heat.

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

2. the is also used rhetorically before a noun in the singular number, to denote a species by way of distinction; a single thing representing the whole. the fig tree putteth forth her green figs; the almond tree shall flourish; the grasshopper shall be a burden.

3. In poetry, the sometimes loses the final vowel before another vowel.

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
64%the
the64% · 13160×<the>28% · 5846×those3% · 597×other renderings4% · 788×other renderings1% · 294×

20,685 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 83 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject34%adverbial32%object24%predicate5%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 19,783 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
the19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordance · 19,783× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke John Revelation Mark Romans 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

40 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 1c. AD 40

Τῶν ἄλλων νομοθετῶν οἱ μὲν ἀκαλλώπιστα καὶ γυμνὰ τὰ νομισθέντα παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἶναι δίκαια διετάξαντο, οἱ δὲ πολὺν ὄγκον τοῖς νοήμασι προσπεριβαλόντες ἐξετύφωσαν τὰ πλήθη μυθικοῖς πλάσμασι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπικρύψαντες.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.1c. AD 100

Χαίρετε, υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες, ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς, ἐν εἰρήνῃ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

r βασιλεύοντος Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν Φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιε, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

ιζ Θῶυθ κη ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Φίβιος καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τὸ ὕπαρχον αὐτοῖς ἥμισυ περιστερῶνος τοῦ ὄντος ἐν τῶι ἀπὸ βορρᾶ μέρει Παθύρεως χαλκοῦ Γ. ἐπρίατο Ὧρος Νεχούτου.

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

βασιλευόντων Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιϛ, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

Having read [it] now they rejoiced at the encouragement.
παρακλήσει.paraklēsis encouragement. G3874 Noun · dative · singular · feminine
29× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Acts as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Encouragement is about giving comfort or solace to someone, like in 2 Corinthians 8:4. It's also about exhorting or urging someone to do something, as seen in Acts and other biblical passages.
Amplified meaning
consolation, comfort, exhortation
Tyndale gloss
encouragement
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word παράκλησις (paraklesis) is derived from παρακαλέω and encompasses meanings such as a calling for aid, exhortation, encouragement, and comfort. It appears in various contexts in the New Testament, notably in passages like 2 Corinthians 1:4-7 and Romans 15:5. Some lexicons emphasize its use in both consolation and exhortation, reflecting its broad application in both personal and communal settings.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

παρά-κλησις, -εως, ἡ

(< παρακαλέω),

[in LXX: Jb 21:2, Ps 93 (94):19, Ho 13:14, Na 3:7, Is 57:18 66:11, Je 16:7 (נחם, its parts and derivatives), Je 38 (31):9 (תַּחֲנוּן), Is 28:29 30:7, I Mac 10:24 12:9, II Mac 7:24 15:11*;]

a calling to one's aid, summons (Thus.), hence, appeal, entreaty (Strab., Plut., al., I Mac 10:24; cf. Lft., Notes, 20): II Co 8:4.

exhortation, encouragement: Ac 15:31, Ro 12:8, I Co 14:3, II Co 8:17, Phl 2:1, I Th 2:3,

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

παρά-κλησις, -ews, 7), (παρακαλέω, α. V-) ; 1. prop. a calling near, summons, (esp. for help, Thue. 4, 61; Dem. p. 275, 20). 2. imploration, supplication, entreaty: 2 Co. viii. 4 (Strab. 13 p. 581; Joseph. antt. 3, 1,5; [e. Ap. 2, 23, 3 a. πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἔστω] ; λόγοι παρακλήσεως, words of appeal, containing entreaties, 1 Mace. Tapakoyn x. 24). 3. exhortation, admonition, encouragement: Acts xv. 31 [al. refer this to 4]; 1 Co. xiv. 3; 2 Co. viii. 17; Phil. ii. 1; 1 Tim. iv. 13; Heb. xii. 5; λόγος τῆς παρακλήσεως, Heb. xiii. 22, (2 Mace. vii. 24; xv. 9 (11); Plat. def. 415 e.; Thue. 8, 92; Aeschin., Polyb., al.). 4. consolation, comfort, solace: 2 Co. i. 4-7; Heb. vi. 18; [add, Acts ix. 31; 2 Thess. ii. 16], (Jer. xvi. 7; Hos. xiii. 14; [Job xxi. 2; Nah. iii. 7]; Phalar. ep. 97 init.) ; τῶν γραφῶν, afforded by the contents of the Scriptures, Ro. xv. 4 [W. 189 (178)]; θεὸς τῆς παρακλ., God…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

παράκλησις. For the primary meaning “appeal,” ‘‘exhortation’’ (as in 1 Thess 28, 2 Cor δὴ) cf. P Grenf I. 321° (B.c. 102) δι[ὰ τ]ὰς ἡμῶν παρακλήσεις, with reference to the ‘appeals ” made to allow three soldiers to come to a certain spot, and P Tebt II. 3925 (A.D. 134-5) of the insertion of a name in an agreement of indemnity at the instance of others—ka[T]a παράκλησιν γέγραπται αὐτῶν. Seealso the late P Flor III. 323° (A.D. 525) δεή]σεις kal παρακλή[σ]εις προσ{ε]νήνοχά got, and from the inserr. Sy// 552 (= %695)** (after B.c. 129) κατευχὴν καὶ παράκλησιν παντὸς τοῦ πλήθους ποιεῖσθαι. On the semi-technical use οἵ παράκλησις in Lk 2535 with reference to the coming of the Messiah see Dalman Words, p- togf., and on the similar meaning ‘‘comfort’’ (not “invocation ’’ as Hort Ecclesta p. 55) in Ac 9951 see Swete Holy Spirit in the NT p. 96f. As against the derivation of BapvaBas — vids…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

παράκλησις (paraklēsis) — encouragement.

παρά-κλησις, εως, ἡ,

calling to one's aid, summons, οἱ ἐκ παρακλήσεως συγκαθήμενοι a packed party in the assembly, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. imploring, appealing, τινος of or on the part of one, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; deprecation, συγγνώμης δεῖ καὶ π. [Refs 1st c.BC+]

3. invocation of gods, [Refs 4th c.AD+]

4. demand, request, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; κατὰ-σιν on demand, [Refs 3rd c.AD+]

II. exhortation, address, πρὸς τὸν ὄχλον [Refs 5th c.BC+]; οὐ π. εὑρόντες, ἀλλὰ παραίνεσιν γράψαντες not a mere address to their feelings, but counsel to act rightly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ἀξιώσεισκαὶ-κλήσεις [Refs 2nd c.BC+]

III. consolation, [LXX+NT+3rd c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

παράκλησις

paraklesis

from 3870; imploration, hortation, solace:--comfort, consolation,

exhortation, intreaty.

see GREEK for 3870

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

παράκλησις, εως, ἡ

n.f.

exhortation, entreaty, encouragement, comfort

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

παράκλησις paraklēsis 29x

a calling upon, exhortation, incitement, persuasion, Rom. 12:8; 1 Cor. 14:3; hortatory instruction, Acts 13:15; 15:31; entreaty, importunity, earnest supplication, 2 Cor. 8:4; solace, consolation, Lk. 2:25; Rom. 15:4, 5; 2 Cor. 1:3, 4, 5, 6, 7; cheering and supporting influence, Acts 9:31; joy, gladness, rejoicing, 2 Cor. 7:13; cheer, joy, enjoyment, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

παράκλησις παράκλησις, εως, παρακαλέω a calling to one's aid, summons, οἱ ἐκ παρακλήσεως συγκαθήμενοι a packed party in the jury, Dem.

a calling upon, appealing, τινος to one, Thuc.: intreaty, deprecation, Strab.

an exhortation, address, Thuc., Aeschin.: encouragement, NTest.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-DSF — Noun · dative · singular · feminine
dative — to, for, with — the one it is done to or by.
Agrees with anything else marked singular feminine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-DSF Part of Speech: Noun Case: Dative Number: Singular Gender: Feminine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
38%comfort
comfort38% · 11×encouragement31% · 9×exhortation21% · 6×entreaty3% · 1×appeal3% · 1×consolation3% · 1×

29 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 6 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial45%object31%subject21%predicate3%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 29 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,ἐνδιά
καίand, even, also, nam
οἰκοδομήthe act of buildἔχωI have, hold, po
σύ
Article the
προσδέχομαιI expect, welcome, a
εὐλαβήςcautious, pious
υἱόςa son, descendent
μεθερμηνεύωI translate, int
παράκλησιςencouragement.29×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸσραήλPropἅγιοςset apart, holy,μεταδίδωμιI share, impart
καίand, even, also, nam
παραμυθίαencouragement, cσωτηρίαdeliverance, salγάρfor
ἐγώ
περισσῶςCompοὐNeg
ὅς
παρακαλέωI summon, entrea
σύ

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceπαράκλησις · 29× in the New Testament
2 Corinthians Acts Hebrews Romans Luke 1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Thessalonians Philemon Philippians
Across the New Testament11 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Contemplative Life 12c. AD 40

οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ θεραπείαν ἰόντες οὔτε ἐξ ἔθους οὔτε ἐκ παραινέσεως ἢ παρακλήσεώς τινων, ἀλλ’ ὑπ’ ἔρωτος ἁρπασθέντες οὐρανίου, καθάπερ οἱ βακχευόμενοι καὶ κορυβαντιῶντες ἐνθουσιάζουσι, μέχρις ἂν τὸ ποθούμενον ἴδωσιν.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.272c. AD 75–95

καὶ μηδὲν ὑπολαβὼν κακοῦργον δειπνήσας τρέπεται πρὸς εὐχὰς καὶ παράκλησιν τοῦ θεοῦ δέσποτα, λέγων, παντὸς αἰῶνος καὶ δημιουργὲ τῆς ὅλης οὐσίας·

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 7th c. AD 5th c. AD 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD
P.Oxy. 34 2725OxyrhynchosAD 71

οθ … κειται Ἀμμωνίου τεταγμένοι εἰσὶν εἰς τὴν ϛ μετὰ πολλῆς παρακλήσεως ἵνα μοι δῶσι τὸ κερμάτιον. περὶ δὲ τῶν χορτασμάτων τῶν χοιριδίων μὴ ἀμελήσῃς ἀγοράσαι

P.Tebt. 2 392Tebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 134–AD 135

τὸν Κρονίωνα ἐσχηκέναι ταύτας εἰς τὸ ἴδιον τὸν δὲ Ὡρίωνα μηδὲν ἁπλῶς λαβόντα κατὰ παράκλησιν γεγράφθαι αὐτῶν. Κρονίων Κρονίωνος ὁμολογῶ παρέξεσθαι τὴν ἀδελφήν μου Εὐδαιμονίδα τὴν καὶ Πόλιτταν ἀπαρενόχλητον

P.Amh. 2 148ArsinoitesAD 487

συμπληρώσεως τοῦ χρέους. ἐὰν δὲ ἐκπροθέσμως ὑπερθῶμαι περὶ τὴν τούτων ἀπόδοσιν καὶ βουληθείης κατὰ παράκλησιν ἐμὴν ἑτέραν μοι ἐκδοῦναι πρόθεσιν

Sources on this page. Lexicons and dictionaries imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones, Robinson and Packard, Webster and Cawdrey. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Harper, 1889 — Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer) is public domain and is set here from the Internet Archive page scan greekenglishlex00grim; it is uncorrected OCR, marked as such on the entry itself, and the Strong’s numbers — which Thayer’s own edition does not carry — were matched by lemma against the other modules on this page. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880) and Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, which entered the United States public domain on 1 January 2026) are set from Internet Archive page scans synonymsofnewtes00treniala and vocabularyofgree00mouluoft, and are likewise uncorrected OCR matched to Strong’s numbers by lemma. Trench treats a group of words at once, so the same essay stands on the page of each word it compares. The Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary is © 1993 and is used here by permission for non-commercial use, www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary. The full Liddell-Scott-Jones and the Hebrew word data (TAHOT) come from STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs is the OpenScriptures digitisation, public domain. Syntax analysis is the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (biblicalhumanities.org); the concordance and morphology are built from the tagged Nestle 1904 text. Septuagint occurrences use the Open Scriptures Septuagint lemma index, derived from CCAT (University of Pennsylvania) and the Rahlfs 1935 dataset by Eliran Wong, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — used here on a non-commercial ministry site. Greek of Josephus and Barnabas from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Commentaries and the Ante-Nicene Fathers are public-domain texts hosted on this site. Everyday Greek from the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, CC BY 3.0, with dates and provenance from the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis. Philo and the Apostolic Fathers from Open Greek and Latin (First1KGreek), CC BY-SA 4.0. The apparatus and the fifth Greek column are the SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 SBL and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. The Latin is the Clementine Vulgate (public domain); the Syriac New Testament is the ETCBC edition (MIT licence). The Hebrew behind the Greek is computed here from the Septuagint index and TAHOT, not taken from any aligned edition. The translation spread and the per-word edition marks come from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0); clause roles from the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (CC BY-SA 4.0); place identifications and their confidence from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding (CC BY 4.0), with map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Gospel parallels are computed here from shared uncommon vocabulary, not taken from any printed harmony. Cross references are the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the subject headings are Nave’s Topical Bible, both public domain. Works under Creative Commons licences are used unchanged apart from markup removal.

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